Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - quick play preview

Is it more a case of Assassin's Creed 2.5 than a true sequel? Will this stand-alone episode continue the storyline of the first two outings? Is Ezio still the main protagonist? So many questions, and we have some of the answers.

We haven't played all of the 15 hour single-player campaign, or all the multiplayer maps, but after three visits to the game over the course of E3 here's what we think.

Name

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

What platform is it on?

PC, PS3, X360

When's it due out?

Christmas 2010

What other game is it like?

Assassin's Creed 2

Does it use any new tech like 3D, PlayStation Move, or Kinect for Xbox 360?

No

The pitch

For the first time, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood offers a never-before-seen multiplayer layer. Players can help the Templars by using Abstergo to train in the art of Assassination to eliminate the Assassins once and for all as well as choose from a wide range of unique characters, each with their own signature weapons and assassination techniques, and match their skills against other players from all over the world in different game modes.

The storyline

Ezio returns in a struggle against the powerful Templar Order. Now a legendary Master Assassin, he must journey to Rome, centre of power, greed and corruption to strike at the heart of the enemy. Defeating the corrupt tyrants entrenched there will require not only strength, but leadership, as Ezio commands an entire Brotherhood that will rally to his side.

Our first impressions

Ubisoft revealed details of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood at its Monday press conference, then showed the Templars v Assassins multiplayer mode at the Sony conference on Tuesday. Behind closed doors it showed us even more of the sequel, which carries on exactly where Assassin’s Creed 2 left off.

Members of the development team explained that the game’s Rome setting is the biggest in the series, several times the size of Florence in Assassin’s Creed 2, and detailed how a Borgia attack on hero Ezio’s Tuscan stronghold will push him to recruit a brotherhood of elite assassins to take vengeance in the capital.

Your fellow assassin’s aren’t just for show; you’ll be able to call them in for support, taking down the toughest targets when you’re on a mission, evening out the odds when you’re outnumbered, and helping you make your escape.

The combat system has also been updated, to make Ezio more capable against multiple foes, though enemies will no longer wait to attack until their friends have been dispatched.

While based on the AC2 engine, this is very much a full game in its own right, and should be a must for anyone who enjoyed last year’s brilliant sequel.

Please note

The E3 games convention is a fantastic chance to see the latest games due out over the coming year, as well as, letting us get a glimpse into what is going to be the big titles and the ones to avoid like the plague.

The big problem however is that for most of the titles that glimpse is, well, just that. At the show you'll get to play a level here or a multiplayer map there.

So with that in mind we present you with our Quick Play.

What we've done is broken down the key facts you need to know and then given you our first impressions based on around 15 minutes of gaming. For us that 15 minutes isn't enough to do a First Look review. How can you rate a game that offers over 30 hours of gaming on just 15 minutes of play? However it should hopefully give you an idea, a feeling, a notion, of what to expect come launch day.